How To Find An Angel Investor For Your Start-up

So, you’ve decided that it’s going to take an angel investor to get your business off the ground, or maybe you need an injection of divine lifeblood to take your fledgling start-up into deeper waters. As you may have read in our article, Funding Sources for Start-ups angel investors play a large role in the success and failure of start-ups. But how do we find an angel investor willing to take a chance on our business?

Family and Friends

Your angel investor may be literally right beside you. Asking family members and close friends for start-up capital seems obvious, as having a pre-established rapport with them pitching your idea to be less pressured than convincing a relative stranger. Of course, mixing business and pleasure can be a treacherous path for your personal relationships if you don’t clearly state your intentions and advise them on the risk of start-up’s 1 in 10 odds of success. In other words, don’t bet the farm and don’t ask for money that they can’t bear to lose if your business should go belly-up.

Angel Investor Groups

Online resources like Angel List (angel.co/) are invaluable for those looking for funding for their start-up. Having much in common with crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter, Angel List offers the ability for successful investors to make public their monetary support for a start-up, which entices other investors to offer their contributions in smaller amounts, forming what is dubbed as “syndicates” to aggregate into a larger sum than simply one investor, offering equity and other perks for their investment.

If you’re looking for more brick-and-mortar resources in your area, you can find angel investor groups in your area by consulting the Angel Capital Association webpage (www.australianinvestmentnetwork.com/), which contains listings by state and region. Each group has its own method of operating, so be sure to investigate each resource accordingly, conform to their standards, and entice them via meetings, online requests, etc.

Individual Angel Investors

Finding angel investors can be a difficult path for start-ups to pursue, as most angels tend to remain anonymous and relatively inaccessible, requiring more work to pursue than angel groups or other forms of funding. However, it is not an impossible task and requires some ingenuity and detective work on your point. Consulting the aforementioned Angel List (angel.co/) or the like, search for angel investor syndicates in your area to fund your idea. The syndicates are based around individual investors with proven success track records and industry clout. If you feel bold enough, reverse-engineer what individual angels in those groups are looking for in a start-up, such as industry type and size of the start-up. Model your start-up to fit the archetype in which they’d be most likely to invest in. Making your business as attractive and thoroughly-conceived goes without saying. And though it may seem bold and intrusive, try contacting them directly. Numerous business success stories begin with an entrepreneur who pounded the pavement and entered action fearlessly. You may be surprised with your results.

As you can see, there’s multiple ways to find angel investors for your start-up. Using the same ingenuity and work ethic that you had for creating your idea will guarantee your success in finding funds to make your business thrive.

Aeona’s mission is to simplify the process of starting and running a business while doing it’s best to contribute to the success of those that choose to make the ever so frightening risk in to entrepreneurship. We intend on doing this by breaking down the barriers that stand in the way of entrepreneurial progress while shedding light on crucial business practices, common pitfalls as well as methods for overcoming the challenges that every entrepreneur will inevitably face.